The Anthem Philatelist

UNESCO Education for all stamp (Nepal 1963)    UNESCO , as the specialized United Nations agency for education, facilitates the annual observance of the Day ( 24 January) in close collaboration with main education actors.  The adoption of the resolution 73/25 “International Day of Education”, co-authored by  the UN Member States , demonstrated the unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all. By doing so, the international community reiterated that education plays a key role in building sustainable and resilient societies, and contributes to the achievement of all other Sustainable Development Goals .  With a view to enhance international cooperation in supporting the efforts towards the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4 , the resolution called on all stakeholders including Member States, organizations of the UN system, and civil society, non-governmental organizations, academic i...

  Vintage Piece 2, Oil on Canvas 2005   Antonio Vidal's artistic journey began at an early age.  He has shown and discovered his penchant for art even before entering his elementary education.  Born and raised in Puerto Princesa, Cebu , he used to go to his mother to church and got fascinated with the Cherubim , decorating the house of God.  His exposure to religious processions , especially during fiesta celebration, has added up to his intention to draw angels and other spiritually-enriching images.  As he continually joins his mother attending church activities, his strong interest in ecclesiastical arts gradually manifested. With much encouragement and support from his father, Tony decided to enroll in an art workshop in Gallery 90 in Cebu .  With positive guidance and motivation from his mentors, he learned the basic of doing portraiture in black and white providing comfort and ease in this medium.  This led him enrolling at the UP Cebu F...

    My maternal grandparents were from Mainit , Alipao, Alegria, Surigao del Norte .  In the 1930’s, the families of Odtojan , Baluran , Labaso , Senturias , Rubilla and Seroy emerged simultaneously and inhabited the place. Because they were bound by faith and the common vision for a better tomorrow, these families started to cultivate the area of Candiis that had a total land area of not more than 300 hectares.  The first Teniente del Barrio was Alvaro Odtojan Senturias Sr.  who served until the end of the World War II. One of the succeeding Teniente del Barrio was my late aunt Pacensia "Pacing" Odtojan Beniga (Lesoy). Before the war , my grandfather Eugenio Anino Beniga (son of Pantaleon Beniga), a surveyor from Sevilla, Bohol went to Surigao , met and married a pious local beauty, Felina Caerlang Odtojan . They were simple rice farmers who owned and tilled 25 hectares of land in that area.  During my childhood days in the 70's, my fond memor...

    Born on April 28, 2002, he is one of the youngest emerging artists making waves both locally and internationally is a 20 year old native of Danao City, who is currently living in Carmen , Cebu . His name is Leodito Rosales Bongo III.   Currently a Fine Arts student of the University of the Philippines Cebu, he was also a  personal student of Master Cubist Celso Duazo Pepito since 2020. He  garnered several local and international awards for his art and was the champion of the 7th World Youth Art Festival 2020 in South Korea . He started creating art when he was in grade 3 but did not take it seriously until he was 16.    His journey in pursuing his passion for creating art was not easy - with initial opposition from his parents.  He started losing hope because no one believed in him. But God sent him two angels in the person of Sir Paul Llideau and Celso Pepito who started to mentor him and changed his life for good.  He was g...

  Francisco "Kikoy" Miranda Morelos (2 Apr 1900- 17 Aug 1994) Educator, prolific writer and columnist of the post war (1947) Republic Daily and The Freeman covering political and social issues and events.  Here he writes about the 1977 National Referendum and the wedding of his nephew Don Morales (son of Avelino Morales , his wife's elder brother) with Grace Con-ui and the meeting of two political giants who were at that time adversaries but for familial love , stood as godparents- Mayor Eulogio Borres and Governor  Eddie Gullas .       Wedding of Avelino "Don" Morales, Jr. and Grace Con-ui in 1977. Principal Sponsors: Cebu Governor Eduardo Gullas, Cebu City Mayor Eulogio Borres, Beatriz Derecho, and Esperanza Racaza.   Lolo Kikoy is seated at extreme right talking to Gov. Gullas and Mayor Borres.     The young Avelino "Don" Morales Jr. with family driver Inting (1957)   The 1977 National Referendum   I can concede that ...

These paintings of Cebu's 14 Churches by renowned visual artist Cesar Castillo were inspired by the 14 Stations of the Cross on Holy Week during the grueling pandemic when churches and other places of worship were closed.   His fervent wish and prayer was for the whole collection to be sold as a set because disposing them individually would destroy the message of unity among the Catholic , Churches of Christ in times of crisis and upheaval.    Can you identity the 14? He also created other church paintings in sets (some in 7- the Holy Number of God. ex: 7 days and nights, 7 miracles of Jesus , 7 Last Words , 7 " I Am ") which were quickly snapped by collectors.    

    Since the 1980’s, the UK has had a rich history of video game classics, which carried on through to the 1990’s and to this very day.  And to celebrate that very rich history, the Royal Mail are releasing a set of 12 stamps each celebrating classic series from Tomb Raider , Dizzy, Micro Machines, Lemmings, Worms, Wipeout , Populous and the greatest football game of all-time, Sensible Soccer . Each of the limited edition stamps feature imagery and screenshots from some of the games most memorable moments in UK gaming and these are sure to be on the top of the list for many collectors alike.  Each of the stamps was carefully selected by games industry body UKIE and veteran video games journalist Julian Rignall . A spokesperson for Royal Mail , Phillip Parker had this to say on the announcement of the limited edition stamps “ UK has been at the forefront of the video games industry for decades, ”, Parker added “. In the 1980s and 90s young designers grapple...

   Once upon a time... an old donkey was ill- treated by his master. Tired of such unkindness, he decided to run away, and when he heard that Bremen was looking for singers with the town band, he decided that someone with a fine braying voice like his might be accepted. As he went along the road, the donkey met a skinny dog , covered with sores. “Come with me. If you have a good bark, you’ll find a job with the band too. Just wait and see!”   A little later, a stray cat , no longer able to catch mice, joined them and the trio trotted hopefully on towards the town. As they passed a farmyard, they stopped to admire an elderly rooster who, with outstretched wings, was crowing to the skies. The donkey, the dog, the cat and the rooster “You sing well,” they told him. “What are you so happy about?”   “Happy?” muttered the rooster with tears in his eyes. “They want to put me in the pot and make broth of me. I’m singing as hard as I can today...

Tick encephalitis , Lyme disease , Hepatitis A , etc.- these are some of the diseases one might acquire when traveling to Siberia , As a doctor I was apprehensive about travelling to this side of the Earth.  The Lonely Planet guidebook which I read thoroughly gave these warnings.  Should I really go? I think I shouldn't.  But, this is a once in a lifetime experience.   Good that this book also mentioned a contact person- Petr Ishkin , a well-traveled Russian teacher who is proficient in English.  So I tried to email him, expecting he would never answer. He must receive hundreds of these requests, why would we bother to respond to mine?    I was requesting him to accompany and guide me through this Siberian rendezvous which brought me from island of Cebu , Philippines to Seoul , Korea , to Ulaanbaatar , Mongolia then to Ulan-ude , Siberia .  I was quite surprised  when he answered back the next day. After this, we were regula...

A few months ago, I visited a link in Delcampe , a stamp and collectibles auction site, about "Cyber Philately: Computer Stamps- from Abacus to Internet", and I was transported back in time to my love affair with the "ultimate machine".   Pocket computer --- desktop --- laptop --- notebook --- netbook --- tablet PC . In a nutshell, that's the evolution of my computers.    Back in 1983, when I was in my second year high school in UP Cebu , my dad gifted me from Japan , my first computer- the Casio PB-300 , a pocket computer with a built in thermal printer. To my knowledge, it was the first computer with a built-in thermal printer but had only 2KB of RAM compared to mammoth 4GB of today. There were no elaborate graphics and software programs then. You can only see 12 characters in a line on a monochrome LCD for simple games and computation of algebraic formulas which was very helpful in my elective Calculus subject in high school in UP Cebu.   Only a hand...